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Longevity;  a  paper  r 


LONOSVITY 


BY 

HCMA.NS 


QPft^ 


t\7S 


Columbia  (Hnitoem'tp 

College  of  ^f^v^idansi  anh  burgeons; 


LOXGEVITY. 


A  PAPEE  BEAD  BEFOEE  THE 


Englewood   Literary   Society, 


BY 


SHEPPARD  ROMANS. 


PRESS  PRINT, 

ENGLEWOOD,   NEW  JERSEY, 

1891. 


^-^  /    ..^ 


^^e  read  in  the  5th  chapter  of  Genesis: 

V'lr-'  «'A.nd  all  the  days  that  Adam  lived 
were  930  years  and  he  died."  Also  "Ail  the 
■days  of  Seth  were  912  years ;  and  he  died." 
The  ages  of  five  other  descendants  of 
Adam  are  then  given  each  of  whom  lived 
more  than  900  years,  and  then  we  come  tp 
Methuseleh  the  oldest  age  on  record, 
•"And  all  the  days  of  Methuseleh  were  969 
years;  and  he  died." 

After  the  flood  the  ages  recorded  of  the 
patriarchs  were  much  less.  Abraharoi 
■died  at  the  age  of  175,  Isaac  at  180,  and 
Jacob  at  147 ;  and  Sarah,  whose  age  is  tfie 
greatest  recorded  in  the  Bible  of  a  female, 
died  at  127. 

In  modern  times  we  have  the  records, 
more  or  less  authentic,  of  many  persons 
who  have  attained  extreme  old  age.  Mr. 
James  Easton,of  Salisbury,  England,  pub- 
lished in  1799  a  list  containing  the  names 
of  1712  persons  who  had  reached  the  age 
of  100  years  and  upwards.  In  1826,  Mr. 
Charles  Babbage  collected  1750  similar 
cases.  Haller  cites  two  cases  of  extreme 
age  which  came  under  his  own  observa- 
tion, one  of  152,  and  the  other  of  169  years. 

I  select  the  following  from  a  list  pre- 


pared  by  the  late  Cornelius  Walford  con- 
taining the  names  of  208  persons  who  died 
at,  or  above  the  age  of  120  years.  Thomas 
Cam,  Shoreditch,  England,  at  the  age  of 
207,  in  1588.  This  case  is  said  to  be  con- 
firmed by  the  Parish  Registers.  If  this 
be  true,  it  is  the  most  remarkable  instance 
of  longevity  recorded  since  the  flood.  175 
years,  Louisa  Truxo,  a  negress,  Brazil, 
in  1780;  152  years,  Thomas  Parr, 
Shropshire,  England,  in  1635.  In  the 
Petershvrrgh  Gazette,  a  Russian  paper 
published  in  1812,  the  case  is  recorded  of  a 
man  who  died  in  the  diocese  of  Ekateroios 
who  attained  an  age  between  200  and  205 
years  at  death. 

The  age  of  Dr.  Parr,  as  he  was  called, 
appears  to  be  well  authenticated.  It  has 
the  testimony  of  Harvey  who  dissected 
his  body  and  found  all  the  organs  in  a 
sound  and  healthful  condition.  Charles 
the  First,  sent  for  Dr.  Parr,  who  had  be- 
come famous  by  reason  of  his  extreme 
age.  Dr.  Parr  went  to  Court  where  he 
was  feasted,  and  eating  too  much,  died 
from  a  fit  of  indigestion.  He  might  have 
lived  many  years  longer — in  fact  he  may 
be  said  to  have  died  from  an  accident. 

There  would  then  seem  to  be  abundant 
evidence  that,  not  only  among  the  patri- 
archs who  lived  after  the  flood,  but  among 
those  who  lived  in  modern  times  also,  in- 


•stances  are  not  ^Yanting  of  deaths  ap- 
proaching the  age  of  200  years,  which 
would  seem  to  be  about  the  extreme  limit 
possible  for  man  to  attain. 

Scientific  research  has  demonstrated 
some  remarkable  physiological  facts  which 
bear  upon  the  duration  of  human  life.  It 
is  demonstrated  that  Species  never 
change.  Their  physiological  characteris- 
tics are  fixed  and  unalterable.  Man  at 
the  present  day  has  precisely  the  same 
formation,  the  same  organs,  the  same 
type  in  fact,  as  may  be  found  in  mummies 
embalmed  centuries  before  the  Christian 
Era.  The  fossil  horse  is  the  same  as  the 
living  animal.  Siberia  was  once  peopled 
by  elephants.  These  elephants  have  dis- 
appeared, but  their  fossil  remains  present 
precisely  the  same  physiological  char- 
acteristics as  those  of  the  living  elephants. 
America  was  once  peopled  by  mastodons. 
They  have  disappeared,  but  they  have  not 
left  in  their  places  other,  or  different  mas- 
todons. The  type  of  man,  of  the  horse,  of 
the  elephant,  and  of  every  other  animal 
living  or  extinct,  has  remained  unaltered 
by  the  revolutions  and  mutations  of  tlie 
Globe. 

Buffon,  the  celebrated  naturalist,  first 
enunciated  the  theory  that  the  natural 
life  of  all  animals  bears  a  certain  relation 
to  the  periods  of  their  growth.     This  per- 


6 


iod  is  defined  by  the  union  of  the  bones^ 
with  their  epiphyses.  When  this  union 
takes  place,  the  bones,  and  consequently 
the  animals,  cease  to  grow.  M.  Flourens,^ 
accepting  this  ingenious  theory  of  Buffon,. 
and  having  the  advantage  of  later  and 
more  correct  physiological  knowledge, 
made  a  series  of  very  interesting  experi- 
m.ents  by  which  to  determine  the  length 
of  time  after  birth  when  this  union  of  the 
bones  with  the  epiphyses  takes  place  in 
different  animals.  He  then  found  that 
the  natural  limit  of  life  in  all  animals  is 
about  five  times  the  period  of  growth. 

Thus  the  union  of  bones  and  epithyses 
and  the  consequent  natural  life  of  differ- 
ent animals  is  as  follows : 
Man  ^rows     20  years.  Natural  lift^.,  100  years. 

40 

"        25 
!'  "        20 

"        20 

73 
5 

The  man  who  does  not 
disease  lives  everywhere 
to  90  or  100  years  of  age."  Huf eland  says : 
"Nearly  all  those  deaths  which  take  place 
before  the  hundreth  year  are  brought  on 
artificially,  that  is  to  say,  by  disease  or 
accident."  Dr.  Farr  in  the  16th  Annual 
Eeport  of  the  Kegistrar  General  of  Eng- 


Camel     " 

8 

Horse     " 

5 

Ox 

4 

Lion       " 

4 

Dog 

2 

Cat 

1} 

Hare      " 

1 

Buffon  states : 
die  of  accident  or 


land  says :  "The  natural  term  of  human 
life  appears  to  be  100  years."  Finally,  the 
prophet  Isaiah  says,  LXV -20 .—"There 
shall  no  more  thence  be  an  infant  of  days, 
nor  an  old  man  that  hath  not  filled  his 
days,  for  the  child  shall  die  an  hundred 
years  old." 

The  extreme  limit  of  life  appears  to  be 
about  twice  the  natural  limit  or  term. 
Thus  instances  have  occurred  of  man  liv- 
ing' to  200  years,  or  very  nearly,  and 
Buffon  relates,  with  much  minuteness, 
the  history  of  a  horse  that  lived  50  years, 
and  died  February  24:th,  1774. 

How  are  we  to  account  for  the  ages 
recorded  in  Genesis,  of  Adam,  his  sons, 
and  Methuseleh?  We  cannot  disregard 
the  teachings  of  science,  nor  need  we 
doubt  the  statement  in  Holy  Writ.  Each 
has  Divine  authority.  By  what  theory 
can  we  reconcile  the  two.  Simply  that 
the  year,  or  unit  of  time  among  the  early 
patriarchs  differed  from  that  adopted 
since  the  Deluge,  which  has  been  twelve 
calendar  months.  Hensler,  a  high  author- 
ity, shows  the  strong  probability  that  the 
year,  till  the  time  of  Abraham,  consisted 
of  three  months  only,  and  that  not  until 
the  time  of  Joseph  was  it  extended  to 
twelve  months.  "This  assertion"  says 
Hufeland,  a  still  higher  authority,  "is  to 
a  certain  degree  confirmed  by  sonae  of  the 


Eastern  nations  who  still  reckon  only- 
three  months  to  the  year,"  and  besides  it 
would  be  altogether  inexplicable  why  the 
life  of  man  should  have  been  shortened 
three-fourths  immediately  after  the  Flood. 
Moreover  the  recorded  ages  when  the 
early  patriarchs  married  was  about  four 
times  the  usual  age.  Again,  with  the  per- 
iod of  Abraham,  we  find  mention  of  a  du- 
ration of  life  which  can  still  be  attained, 
and  which  no  longer  appears  extraordin- 
ary, especially  when  we  consider  the  tem- 
perate manner  in  which  the  patriarchs 
lived.  "We  think,  therefore,  that  Huf eland 
has  arrived  at  a  correct  conclusion  when 
he  says  that  "man  can  still  attain  to  the 
same  age  as  ever." 

By  the  Census  of  1851  there  were  living 
in  England  and  Wales  319  persons  (111 
males  and  208  females)  whose  reputed  ages 
ranged  from  100  to  119  years. 

At  the  instance  of  Mr.  James  Thorn,  a 
parlimentary  commission  was  appointed 
to  visit  each  of  these  alleged  centenarians 
in  order  to  examine  the  evidences  upon 
which  their  reputated  ages  were  based,  as 
well  as  to  inquire  into  the  particulars  as 
tO' their  habits,  modes  of  life,  etc. 

A  singular  instance  of  the  thoroughness 
with  which  Mr.  Thom  and  his  commission 
conducted  their  inquires  was  afforded  in 
the  case  of  a  Greenwich  pensioner  who 


had  served  in  the  Eoyal  Navy,  and  whose 
age  was  reputed  to  be  107  years.  This 
sailor,  whose  name  we  will  assume  to  have 
been  John  Smith,  asserted  that  he  was  the 
son  of  Mary  and  Thomas  Smith,  and  that 
the  date  of  the  marriage  of  his  parents,  as 
well  as  the  date  of  his  own  birth  and 
christening,  could  be  found  in  the  Parish 
Kegisters  of  his  native  place,  Mr.  Thorn 
examined  these  Parish  Kegisters  and 
found  the  several  dates  agreed  with  the 
old  sailor's  statements,  and  there  appears 
to  have  been  no  doubt  that  he  was  the  son 
of  the  Thomas  and  Mary  Smith,  as 
claimed.  Mr.  Thom,  however,  was  not  en- 
tirely satisfied.  A  further  examination  of 
the  same  Eegisters  showed  that  a  year  or 
two  after  the  recorded  birth  of  John  Smith 
son  of  Thomas  and  Mary  Smith,  the  child 
died  and  was  buried  in  the  Parish  Church 
Yard,  A  year  or  two  subsequently  anoth- 
er son  of  the  same  Thomas  and  Mary 
was  born  and  was  christened  John.  This 
John  afterward  died  and  was  buried  and 
a  further  search  showed  the  record  of  the 
birth  and  christening  of  a  third  John,  son 
of  Thomas  and  Mary  Smith,  and  this  was 
undoubtedly  the  old  sailor  himself  who 
was  thus  proved  to  be  only  97  years,  in- 
stead of  107  as  claimed. 

Mr,  Thom  and  his  commission  Visited 
every  one  or  nearly  every  one  of  the  al- 


10 

leged  centenarians,  and  examined  the  evi- 
dences of  age,  mode  of  life,  etc.,  in  each 
case.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  evidences 
as  to  actual  age  were  defective,  or  entire- 
ly wanting,  and  also  that  great  diversities 
appeared  as  to  modes  of  living,  diet,  etc. 
Some  of  the  oldest  used  spirits  and  tobac- 
co— others  abstained  entirely.  In  two 
particulars  they  were  all  alike — ^in  the 
habit  of  early  rising  and  in  the  avoidance 
of  undue  excitements  or  excesses  of  any 
character. 

This  same  Mr.  Thorn  investigated  the 
case  of  a  Captain  Lahrbush  who  created 
quite  a  sensation  in  New  York  where  he 
died  some  twenty  years  ago,  at  the  al- 
leged age  of  one  hundred  and  eleven 
years.  This  Captain  Lahrbush  claimed 
that  he  was  an  officer  in  a  certain  Scotch 
Eegiment,  British  Army,  and  was  present 
with  his  Eegiment  at  the  treaty  of  Tilsit 
which  was  signed  in  1807.  Mr.  Thom  first 
proved  that  the  Scotch  Eegi]Tient  named 
was  not  on  the  Continent  in  1807.  He  then 
searched  the  records  of  the  British  Army, 
and  found  that  the  only  officer  named 
Lahrbush  who  had  been  entered  on  its 
rolls  was  cashiered  for  youthful  indiscre- 
tions in  1818.  A  full  discussion  of  these 
points  was  published  in  the  New  York 
Tribune. 


11 

AVHAT  IS  LIFE? 

Th^re  are  some  things  which  the  mind 
of  man  cannot  compass.  Life,  death,  an- 
nihilation, eternity,  space,  are  all  be- 
yond our  comprehension.  At  the  utmost 
we  can  only  grasp  some  of  their  attributes. 
Of  their  essence  we  must  always  remain 
in  ignorance. 

One  attribute  of  life  is  that  it  does  not 
commence  with  each  new  individual  or 
each  new  being.  Life  commences  only 
once  for  each  new  species.  Keckoning 
from  the  first  created  pair  of  each  species, 
life  never  begins  again,  it  is  contin- 
ued. Life  is  transmitted  in  each  species 
by  parents  to  their  offspring,  and  with 
life  certain  unalterable,  unchanging  char- 
acteristics which  belong  exclusively  to 
that  species,  which  are  never  found  in  any 
other  species.  Species  remain  with  unal- 
tered organs,  formation,  etc.,  and  species 
disappear,  but  their  peculiar  physiological 
characteristics  never  re-appear  in  any 
other  animals  or  beings. 

Lord  Bacon  compares  life  to  a  flame. 
"Man  is  constantly  consuming  and  being 
consumed."  Huf eland  says :  "Destructive 
and  creative  powers  are  engaged,  with  a 
never-ceasing  activity,  in  a  continuous 
struggle  within  us ;  and  every  moment  of 
our  existance  is  a  singular  mixture  of  an- 
nihilation and  new  creation.      As  long  as 


12 

the  vital  power  retains  its  frestiness  and 
energy,  the  living  plastic  power  will  have 
the  superiority  and  the  body  will  increase 
and  approach  nearer  to  perfection,  and  at 
last,  the  vital  power  being  lessened,  the 
consumption  will  begin  to  exceed  the  ren- 
ovation, and  decay,  degeneration  and  in 
the  end,  total  dissolution  will  unavoidably 
follow.  The  life  of  man  has  been  divided 
into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  one  of  in- 
crease, the  other  of  decrease.  Each  of 
these  parts  is  divided  into  two  others— 
hence  the  four  ages,  infancy,  youth,  man- 
hood and  old  age.  Lastly  each  of  these 
four  ages  is  sub-divided  into  two.  A  first 
infancy  from  birth  to  age  10.  A  second 
from  10  to  20 ;  this  is  adolescense.  A  first 
youth  from  20  to  30 ;  a  second  from  30  to 
4:0,  A  first  manhood  from  40  to  55 ;  a  sec- 
ond from  55  to  70.  A  first  old  age  from  70 
to  85;  a  second  from  85  to  100.  The  first 
infancy  is  the  period  of  dentition.  The 
second  infancy  ends  at  20  when  the  bones 
cease  to  grow  and  are  united  with  their 
epiphyses.  Youth  is  prolonged  to  40  be- 
cause it  is  only  about  that  age  when  the 
body  has  attained  its  greatest  strength 
— ^it  is  the  virile  epoct  of  life.  The  first 
manhood  from  40  to  55  is  the  period  of 
invigoration,  which  continues  however 
till  65  or  70.  At  70  old  age  begins.  This 
is  the  period  when  the  forces  in  reserve  are 


13 

drawn  upon.  "When  there  can  be  little  if 
any  recuperation,  when  man  lives  upon 
his  reserve.  The  unknown  force  of  life  di- 
minishes more  and  more  as  age  advances. 
The  duration  of  life  in  any  being  will  be 
proportionate  to  the  innate  quantity  of 
vital  power,  the  greater  or  less  firmnes& 
of  its  organs,  the  speedier  or  slower  con- 
sumption, and  the  perfect  or  imperfect 
restoration.  * 

Long  life  has  at  all  times  been  the  chief 
desire,  the  principle  object  of  mankind. 
How  can  it  be  secured?  How  can  the 
flame  be  supplied  with  fuel?  These  are 
questions  which  have  always  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  deepest  thinkers.  Per- 
haps the  most  interesting  and  instructive 
example  of  the  ability  to  prolong  life  and 
preserve  health  is  given  in  the  writings  of 
a  wise  old  man  who  owed  his  century  of 
existence  to  a  strict  adherence  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  sobriety  and  moderation. 

Luigi  Cornaro  was  born  at  Venice  about 
the  year  1465,  though  the  exact  date  of  his 
birth  is  variously  given.  He  died  April 
26th,  1566,  at  Padua.  He  belonged  to  one 
of  the  old  families  in  the  city.  One  of  the 
Cornari,  Marco,  who  died  just  a  hundred 
years  before  Luigi's  birth,  was  Doge ;  and 
three  other  bearers  of  the  same  name  at- 
tained the  same  distinction  after  hi& 
death.     He  began  life  with  a  bad  constitu- 


14 

tion,  and  a  long'  course  of  excesses  had,  by 
the  time  he  reached  the  age  of  35,  reduced 
him  to  a  state  of  extreme  misery.  For 
lour  or  five  years  he  remained  in  constant 
bodily  and  mental  suffering.  Gout  began 
to  lay  hold  of  him ;  he  was  tormented  by 
pains  in  the  stomach  and  by  perpetual 
feverishness  and  thirst.  His  physicians 
pointed  out  to  him  that  his  chronic  ail- 
ments must  have  their  cause  in  his  habit- 
ually disordered  life,  and  urged  him  again 
and  again  to  change  it.  He  was  long  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  what  they  said  to 
him  before  putting  their  advice  into  prac- 
tice. For  a  ^vhile  he  pretended  to  follow 
it,  still  eating  and  drinking  as  before,  and 
concealed  the  fact  from  his  doctors — "as 
all  patients  do,"  he  adds  with  some 
humor. 

At  last  he  found  the  strength  of  will  to 
adhere  strictly  to  the  diet  and  mode  of  life 
prescribed  for  him ;  and  at  the  end  of  a 
year  he  found  himself,  instead  of  a  broken- 
down,  hopeless  invalid,  unfit  for  either 
work  or  enjoyment,  a  healthy  and  singu- 
larly active  and  happy  man.  He  then 
€ame  to  the  natural  conclusion  that  the 
regimen  which  had  overcome  the  effects 
of  excesses  and  repaired  the  natural 
weakness  of  his  constitution  must  be  the 
one  to  keep  him  permanently  in  good 
health ;  and  from  that  time  onwards,  dur- 


15 

ing-  the  sixty  years  which  remained  to 
liim  of  life,  he  never,  except  in  the  rarest 
instances,  and  then  to  his  hurt,  swerved 
from  it.  He  more  than  completed  his  80th 
year  before  he  set  himself  down  to  write 
his  own  experiences  for  the  benefit  of 
others.  During  forty  years  he  had  lived 
a  life  of  almost  unbroken  health  atd  hap- 
piness— a  life  which  contrasted  as  much 
with  that  which  he  had  himself  led  in  his 
earlier  days  as  with  that  which  he  saw 
commonly  lived  by  others  around  him. 
One  consideration  weighed  upon  him  es- 
pecially— namely,  the  value  of  the  later 
as  compared  with  the  earlier  years  of  life. 
Many  men,  he  argued,  by  the  time  they 
had  acquired  the  knowledge,  judgment 
and  experience  which  qualified  them  to  be 
useful  in  the  world,  are  physically,  in  con- 
sequence of  their  careless  living  worn  out. 
Men  who  might  live,  in  full  possession  of 
all  their  faculties,  to  the  age  of  ninety  or 
a  hundred,  pass  away  at  the  age  of  fifty  or 
sixty.  Many  who,  as  he  puts  it,  might 
•'make  the  world  beautiful,"  are  cut  off 
untimely  through  the  same  cause.  This 
feeling,  joined  to  the  amiable  vanity  of  a 
happy  and  prosperous  old  age,  prompted 
him  to  lay  his  experiences  before  the 
world. 

Cornaro's  regimen — which  consisted  of 
eggs,  soup,  bread,  pancakes  and  such  like 


16 

food,  with  wine — was,  as  he  tells  us,  in- 
tended for  himself  alone.  All  people 
should  live  temperately,  but  the  temper- 
ance of  one  man  is  the  excess  of  another. 
Cornaro's  method  is  the  simple  one,  that 
each  man  should  find  out  for  himself  what 
is  the  suitable  quantity  of  food  and  drink, 
for  himself,  and  live  accordingly.  The 
charm  of  Cornaro's  narrative  consists  in 
the  garrulous  naivette  with  which  he  sets 
forth  his  simple  creed  and  practice.  Italy, 
he  says,  was  suffering  from  three  great 
evils — first,  from  flattery  and  ceremonies ; 
secondly,  from  the  effects  ofr  Lutheran 
doctrines;  thirdly,  from  debauchery. 
These  three  evils,  or  rather  "cruel  mon- 
sters of  human  life,"  have  destroyed  re- 
spectively social  sincerity;  secondly,  the 
religion  of  the  soul;  thirdly,  the  health  of 
the  body.  The  first  two  plagues  he  leaves 
to  be  dealt  with  by  some  "gentilispiriti," 
who  will  banish  them  from  the  world; 
the  third  he  undertakes  to  extirpate  him- 
self, being  convinced  that  Italy,  before  his 
death,  will  return  to  her  former  "fair  and 
holy  manners."  To  this  end  he  gives  his 
own  practice  as  an  example  to  be  followed 
—at  least  in  its  aim  and  spirit.  His  daily 
allowance  of  food  was  three  rolls,  the  yolk 
of  an  egg,  with  meat  and  soup — the  whole 
weighing  twelve  ounces ;  his  daily  allow- 
ance of  wine  wss  fourteen   ounces.    On 


17 

one  occasion,  after  he  had  slightly  in- 
creased the  quantities,  he  became  in  a  few 
days  "choleric  and  melancholy,"  and  soon 
fell  into  a  violent  fever,  from  which  he 
only  recovered  by  returning  to  his  former 
regimen.  He  never  ate  or  drank  to  the 
extent  of  his  appetite ;  avoided  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold ;  was  careful  to  have  suf- 
ficient sleep. 

To  keep  clear  of  grief,  melancholy, 
hatred,  and  other  perturbations  of  the 
mind  was  also  an  essential  part  of  his 
system ;  though  temperance  in  eating  and 
drinking  will  do  much  to  counteract 
mental  troubles,  as  well  as  to  neutralize 
the  effects  of  bodily  hardships.  Once 
when  powerful  enemies  brought  a  suit 
against  him,  he  kept  his  equanimity  and 
won  his  case  in  the  end ;  while  his  brother, 
who  had  led  an  irregular  life,  died  of  anx- 
iety while  the  case  was  still  going  on.  If 
men  were  but  temperate  as  he  was  him- 
self, they  would  live  to  be  100  years  old. 
He  himself  intended  to  do  so,  and  to  die  at 
last,  not  of  disease,  but  of  "pura  resolu- 
zione,"  If  he  had  had  a  good  constitution 
to  start  with,  he  would  have  reached  120 
years  instead  of  only  a  hundred.  He  did, 
in  fact,  die  at  the  age  of  a  hundred,  if  he 
did  not  surpass  it. 

Cornaro  gives  one  curious  reason  for  de- 
siring long  life.    "If  one  is  a  Cardinal  he 


18 

may  become  Pope  by  age.  If  of  import- 
ance to  the  Eepublic  he  may  become 
Chief  of  it." 

Cornaro  finishes  his  first  "Discourse" 
thus: 

"Such  is  divine  sobriety,  friend  of  nature, 
daughter  of  reason,  sister  of  virtue,  com- 
panion of  noble,  modest,  temperate,  regu- 
lar life,  and  strict  in  all  its  actions.  It  is 
the  root  of  life,  of  health,  of  joy,  of  address, 
of  skill,  and  of  every  action  worthy  of  a 
noble  mind.  Laws,  divine  and  human, 
favor  it;  irregularities,  and  the  perils  at- 
tendant upon  them,  fly  before*  it,  as  the 
clouds  before  the  sun.  Its  beauty  attracts 
every  noble  heart ;  its  practice  ensures  to 
all  a  happy  and  lasting  existence;  we 
know  it  to  be  the  amiable  and  benign 
guardian  of  life,  be  it  rich  or  poor;  it  leads 
the  rich  to  observe  moderation,  the  poor, 
economy ;  the  young  man  to  a  firmer  and 
surer  hope  of  life ;  it  protects  the  old  man 
from  death.  Sobriety  purifies  the  feel- 
ings, quickens  the  faculties,  cheers  the 
mind,  strengthens  the  memory.  The 
soul,  almost  freed  by  it  from  its  earthly 
load,  enjoys  a  larger  liberty." 

At  ninety -five,  the  closing  words  of  his 
fourth  and  last  "Discourse"  still  display 
his  native  regard  for  length  of  days. 

"I  conclude  by  declaring  that  great  age 
may  be  so  useful  and  agreeable  to  men. 


19 

that  I  believe  that  I  should  have  been 
wanting  in  charity  if  I  had  not  taken 
pains  to  point  out  by  what  means  they 
may  prolong  their  days,  and  as  each  can 
boast  of  happiness  of  his  own,  I  shall  not 
cease  to  cry  to  them,  'Live,  live  long.' " 

I'rom  the  foregoing  we  may  see,  if  we 
wish  long  life  and  good  health,  how  im- 
portant it  is  to  observe  the  principles  of 
sobriety  and  moderation.  Not  only  mod- 
eration in  eating  and  drinking,  but  mod- 
eration in  the  undue  excitements  of 
passion  and  feeling.  There  is  one  disease, 
unknown  in  the  scientific  classification  by 
physicians  which  in  the  present  day  kills 
more  patients  than  any  other.  That  di- 
sease is  worry.  The  patriarchs  attained 
extreme  old  age,  because  of  their  simple^ 
pastoral  life,  with  avoidance  of  undue  ex- 
citements or  worry.  There  is  no  case  on 
record  of  a  man  with  violent  temper,  or 
who  was  affected  with  the  disease,  worry, 
who  attained  extreme  age. 

In  addition  to  moderation  and  sobriety 
of  living,  and  of  the  due  observance  of 
sanitary  laws,  I  would  add  another  very 
important  factor,  and  that  is  the  necessity 
of  moderate  and  regular  exercise. 

A  recent  writer,  Edwin  Checkley,  in  his 
most  interesting  and  instructive  work  "A 
natural  method  of  physical  training,'^ 
states  that  not  one  person  out  of  a  hun- 


20 

dred  knows  how  to  breathe  properly.  He 
urges  the  inflation  of  the  chest  and  the 
elosing  of  the  nostrils  when  breathing, 
which  should  be  drawn  at  regular  and 
long  intervals.  I  well  remember  when  a 
young  man  seeing  Indian  papooses  whose 
mouths  were  kept  closed  by  bandages 
which  their  mothers  had  fastened  under 
their  chins  and  around  their  heads.  I  did 
not  then  know  the  object.  Checkley  has 
explained  it.  It  is  to  teach  the  children 
how  to  breathe. 

It  is  wonderful  how  exhilarating  are  the 
effects  of  following  Checkley's*simple  in- 
structions, and  how  beneficial,  as  I  can  at- 
test from  personal  experience. 

Checkley  lays  down  an  admirable  course 
of  physical  training  and  exercise  without 
apparatus,  and  urges  that  each  set  of  mus- 
cles should  be  duly  strengthened  and  made 
supple.  He  is  opposed  to  the  usual  gym- 
nastic exercises  with  apparatus,  as  being 
costly,  unnecessary  and  tending  to  develop 
some  sets  of  muscles  unduly,  while  other 
sets  are  neglected.  Athletes  are  general- 
ly developed  abnormally,  and  by  violent 
exercises  run  great  risks  of  injuring  the 
heart.    Athletes  rarely  attain  old  age. 

Here  is  a  portrait  by  Hufeland  of  a  man 
destined  to  long  life. 

"He  has  a  proper  and  well-proportioned 
stature,  without,  however,  being  too  tall. 


21 

He  is  rather  of  the  middle  size,  and  some- 
what tliiek-set.  His  complexion  is  not  too 
florid :  At  any  rate  too  much  ruddiness  in 
youth  is  seldom  a  sign  of  longevity.  His 
hair  approaches  rather  to  the  fair  than 
the  black;  his  skin  is  strong,  but  not 
rough.  His  head  is  not  too  big;  he  has 
large  veins  at  the  extremities,  and  his 
shoulders  are  rather  round  than  flat.  His 
neck  is  not  too  long;  his  abdomen  does 
not  project;  and  his  hands  are  large,  but 
not  too  deeply  cleft.  His  foot  is  rather 
thick  than  long ;  and  his  legs  are  firm  and 
round.  He  has  also  a  broad  arched  chest ; 
a  strong  voice,  and  the  faculty  of  retain- 
ing his  breath  for  a  long  time  without  dif- 
ficulty. In  general,  there  is  a  complete 
harmony  in  all  his  parts.  His  senses  are 
good  but  not  too  delicate :  his  pulse  is 
slow  and  regular.  His  stomach  is  excel- 
lent, his  appetite  good,  and  his  digestion 
easy.  The  joys  of  the  table  are  to  him  of 
importance ;  they  tune  his  mind  to  seren- 
ity, and  his  soul  partakes  in  the  pleasure 
which  they  communicate.  He  does  not 
eat  merely  for  the  sake  of  eating;  but 
each  meal  is  an  hour  of  daily  festivity ; 
a  kind  of  delight,  attended  with  this  ad- 
vantage with  regard  to  others,  and  it  does 
not  make  him  poorer,  but  richer.  He  eats 
slowly,  and  has  not  too  much  thirst.  Too 
great  thirst  is  always  a  sign  of  rapid  self- 


22 

consumption.  In  general,  he  is  serene, 
loquacious,  active,  susceptible  of  joy,  love, 
and  hope,  but  insensible  to  the  impressions 
of  hatred,  anger,  and  avarice.  His  pas- 
sions never  become  too  violent  or  de- 
structive. If  he  ever  gives  way  to  anger 
he  experiences  rather  an  useful  glow  of 
warmth,  an  artificial  and  gentle  fever, 
without  an  overflowing  of  the  bile.  He  is 
fond  also  of  enjoyment,  particularly  calm 
meditation  and  agreeable  speculation, 
is  an  optimist,  a  friend  to  nature,  and  do- 
mestic felicity,  and  has  no  thirst  after 
honors  or  riches;  and  banishes  all 
thoughts  of  to-morrow." 

I  would  add  that  in  my  opinion  every 
person,  at  least  every  one  that  is  not  af- 
flicted with  organic  trouble  or  who  has 
neglected  too  long  the  observance 
of  the  laws  of  nature,  has  with- 
in himself  the  power  to  prolong 
his  own  existence,  as  well  as  to  improve 
and  to  secure  his  own  good  health.  In  life 
insurance  we  find  that  the  best  risks  are 
not  the  most  robust  men,  not  the  athletes, 
but  are  the  men,  who,  without  organic 
trouble  or  inherited  tendencies  to  disease, 
are  yet  obliged  to  take  care  of  themselves. 
Men  who  like  Cornaro  lives  with  sobriety. 

I  close  this  paper  with  a  quotation  from 
Addison,  who  in  his  Vision  of  Mirza,  must 
have  had  in  mind  a  Mortality  Table. 


23 

"The  bridge  thou  seest,  said  he,  is 
Human  Life ;  consider  it  attentively.  Up- 
on a  more  leisurely  survey  of  it,  I  found 
that  it  consisted  of  three  score  and  ten  en- 
tire arches,  with  several  broken  arches, 
which,  added  to  those  that  were  entire, 
made  up  the  number  about  an  hundred.  As 
I  was  counting'  the  arches,  the  Genius 
told  me  that  this  bridge  consisted  at  first 
of  a  thousand  arches;  but  that  a  great 
flood  swept  away  the  rest,  and  left  the 
bridge  in  the  ruinous  condition  I  now  be- 
held it.  But  tell  me  further,  said  he,  what 
thou  discoverest  on  it.  I  see  multitudes 
of  people  passing  over  it,  said  I,  and  a 
black  cloud  hanging  on  each  end  of  it.  As 
I  looked  more  attentively,  I  saw  several 
of  the  passengers  dropping  through  the 
bridge  into  the  great  tide  that  flowed 
underneath  it ;  and  upon  further  examina- 
tion perceived  that  there  were  innumer- 
able trap-doors  that  lay  concealed  in  the 
bridge,  which  the  passengers  no  sooner 
trod  upon,  but  they  fell  through  them  into 
the  tide,  and  immediately  disappeared. 
These  hidden  pit-falls  were  set  very  thick 
at  the  entrance  of  the  bridge,  so  that 
throngs  of  neople  no  sooner  break  through 
the  cloud,  but  many  of  them  fall  into 
them.  They  grew  thinner  towards  the 
middle,  but  multiplied  and  laid  closer  to- 
gether towards  the  end  of  the  arches  that 


24 

were  entire.  There  were  indeed,  some 
persons,  but  their  number  was  very 
small,  that  continued  a  kind  of  hobbling 
march  of  the  broken  arches,  but  fell 
through  one  after  another,  being  quite 
tired  and  spent  with  so  long  a  walk." 


QP85  H75 

Homans 


,^f-'^-'>^:-,-i^^::^ 


